Little Arguments
by Kouga518
Summary: Paine loses her temper when Rikku overspends their cash. Will the two get back together again? PaineRikku. One shot.


A/N: Shoujo-ai fiction #2. Go me! Anyway, this is gonna be one of those stories with a moral at the end of it, so bear with me. Read and enjoy! Or don't. But think of what you'll be missing…

Little Arguments 

Paine stared up at the clock on the wall and sighed. She'd let her temper get the best of her. Again. She and Rikku had been together now for about 6 or 7 months and were happily living out of a small home in Luca they had worked up the cash to afford. Of course, they still hunted spheres for the majority of their money (most of which was used to pay off the house, food, and other necessities) and they still took long trips on the Celsius, but Paine also did odd jobs for the local peace keepers. Most of the work included killing fiends that wandered too close to the town gate. It paid pretty well, if one could find enough fiends to slay. The pay was based on the number killed, and frankly the Al Bhed's machina collection did a more than sufficient job of removing the fiends off the roads. It left little for her to get rid of, and therefore the paychecks were mainly used for paying off the smaller expenses.

All this thinking had brought Paine's mind back to the aforementioned problem, her temper. While she was doing much better at letting her emotions show and acting less like an unbreakable stone, she still had little slips. Most of them weren't bad, and usually went completely unnoticed by the little bubble of joy that Paine called her girlfriend. But then this day had to roll around. Paine was off doing her fiend-hunting trip for the town guard, only to return to a living room full of bags. Upon closer inspection, the bags contained clothes. Lots of them. So many in fact, that Paine could have distributed one whole set to each person in Luca and would still have a couple sets left for herself (not that she would wear any of them, of course). Or at least that's how it appeared to Paine.

The actual amount was much smaller obviously, but it was still far more clothing than any one person could wear. Even more than two people could wear on that note. To make matters worse, she was able to find the receipt to said excess amount of clothing. The total amount printed on the bill made her fall over. And this is where her temper got the better of her.

"RIKKU! GET DOWN HERE!"

The blonde bundle of joy bounded down the stairs and toward her lover ready for a large embrace and a welcome home kiss. She was disappointed. Instead of a happy to be home Paine waiting for her, it was a "Lucy, you got some 'splaining to do" Paine, complete with a livid expression and an impatiently tapping foot.

The Al Bhed was undeterred however, and tried to improve the situation.

"Aw, come on Painey. Don't I at least get a hello and a hug?"

It turned out that was a bad idea. A VERY bad idea. Paine's expression somehow went from livid to explosive. Rikku suddenly got the idea she was in for a bit of a thrashing.

"Do you want to explain these to me!" Paine said, her voice hovering slightly above a threatening tone.

Rikku's normal expression of joy changed to that of a guilty person trying to defend themselves. "Well, I was in town and thought I might do a little shopping. I needed a few spare sets of clothes." She added a small smile to the end, hoping that would improve her situation a little.

Turned out, it was possible to make a bad situation worse. Paine practically exploded.

"RIKKU! A FEW! YOU'VE SPENT ALMOST HALF OUR BUDGET ON THESE! WE HAVE BILLS TO PAY!"

Rikku's eyes started tearing up a bit as she realized the gravity of her situation. "So, I went a little overboard. But I thought that…."

A rather enraged Paine cut her off. It was the side of her that Rikku thought had gone away from her for good after they got together. Turns out, there was still a little left of it.

"YOU WENT A LITTLE OVERBOARD! A LITTLE! HOW ARE WE GOING TO PAY OUR BILLS IF YOU KEEP BUYING THIS, THIS…..CRAP!"

And that's when Rikku's tear ducts kicked in. She started crying. "Paine, I'm sorry. Please don't yell at me! I can…."

"YOU CAN WHAT! TAKE THEM BACK! I KNOW THIS STORE, THEY DON'T TAKE REFUNDS! WE'RE STUCK WITH THIS JUNK NOW! WHY CAN'T YOU THINK BEFORE YOU ACT?! WHY?!" She finished this by slamming her fist into a nearby table that Rikku was fairly sure was now cracked from the force of the hit.

Paine just stood there for a few seconds, trying to catch her breath. Meanwhile Rikku was crying harder, so hard that she was sitting on the ground so that she wouldn't fall over. A little whine could be heard from her as she cried. She then looked up at her infuriated lover. "Paine, I…"

Paine just glared at her and screamed some of the words that one should never say to someone in their current predicament.

"GET OUT, RIKKU! JUST GET OUT!!!"

Fearful of what Paine might do, she did just that. She left without so much as a word, but her crying could be heard from a block away, but not before slamming the door closed behind her. After this was done, Paine was left with the usual feelings after one has a quarrel with their significant other. She started swearing, but was unsure if she was swearing about what Rikku had done, or at what she had just done.

-Later that Evening-

So now sitting there looking at the clock, she wondered if she was too harsh with Rikku. She was after all fairly young and didn't quite understand the importance of saving and budgeting yet. But beyond that, Paine just hoped Rikku wasn't doing anything that she may regret later. Like getting drunk.

_"Speaking of which…"_ Paine thought to herself. She herself had already emptied a few shot glasses worth of some strong scotch she kept handy for special occasions. Mentally kicking yourself for not controlling your temper was about as special an occasion as she was going to get currently. Just five hours ago, she had lost her temper with Rikku. It was now nearly 11 o'clock at night, and Paine felt more and more like a worthless individual the later it got. Finally, amidst the worthless feeling and the scotch kicking in, she heard her newly found conscious speak to her.

"_You should go out and find her. You still love her. But she needs to know that. And you need to apologize."_

Paine let out a long sigh, realizing that her conscious was right (sometimes she missed the days where she didn't listen to her conscious). She needed to go out and find Rikku. Make sure she hadn't gotten herself in trouble. She slowly stood up off the couch and waited for the blood to circulate into her head again (she was going to have a hell of a hangover the next morning) before walking toward the front door. As she opened it though, she was surprised to see Rikku standing right there with her arm outstretched to open the door also. There was a kind of odd silence as the two of them stood there, completely bewildered to see the other standing there and at a complete loss of what to say.

Finally, Rikku broke the silence and spoke in a sad, hushed voice. "I was just going to get my things and go." She started moving into the doorway, keeping her head hung low so that she wouldn't have to look at Paine's face.

Paine felt a sharp pain in her side, as if Rikku's sudden void of excitement, mixed with a deep sadness, was like a hard right hook into her side. Paine's expression softened as she spoke.

"Rikku, I…"

Rikku cut her off though. Her voice wasn't accusatory, but more like that of resignation.

"No, you don't need to tell me again. I'll just go. No need to get angry with me."

Paine could tell that there were tears falling down from her eyes, and that she was struggling not to cry in front of her.

"Rikku, please. There's something I need to say."

"I think you've said all you ne…."

Paine interrupted whatever Rikku had planned on saying by grabbing her arm, not hard but snuggly. She then turned Rikku around and kissed her. It was a long kiss, one that expressed what Paine had been trying to say. When they finally broke the kiss, Paine looked into Rikku's eyes and spoke.

"What I said to you today was out of line. I let my anger get the better of me, and I've felt bad all day since. It's been hard for me to open up again, and I nearly closed myself to you back there. That's not what I want. I want you to be happy, as well as me. Please, Rikku. I'm sorry."

Rikku finally burst from all the attempts to hold back her tears and let them fall freely now. Paine wrapped her arms around her and pulled her closer, resting her chin on the top of the younger girl's head. They stayed like that for several minutes. Rikku cried, while Paine held her close. Rikku finally spoke up.

"Thanks, Dr. P. And I'm sorry that I went crazy earlier on the clothes. I'll try to find some way of earning the money back. Even if I have to open up a yard sale and sell all of the clothes at a cheaper price. I guess that I have to learn to think about other people besides myself all the time."

With that, the two of them kissed again and went into the living room to talk about what to do with all of the clothing. In the end, they sold most of it to other people at a cheaper price (including Yuna, who got a rather expensive looking night gown at a price even dirt could afford). While not all of the money had been re-earned, it was enough. And that suited the pair of them just fine.

-The Moral-

There is much to be learned from life. In everything we do there is a moral, and a consequence. But for these two, they have learned. When together with another person, one must learn to think for both of them. And when mistakes are made, when tempers are flared, and when sadness is wrought throughout the home, one must remember this simple rule:

You must learn to forgive each other. For if there is no forgiveness in the mistakes of one, then love cannot conquer all.


End file.
